Research on Intercessory Prayer: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
| Autor: | Paulo Rogério Dalla Colletta de Aguiar, Letícia Oliveira Alminhana, Tiago Pires Tatton-Ramos |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Research design
Psychotherapist media_common.quotation_subject Psychological intervention Faith healing law.invention 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Randomized controlled trial law Intervention (counseling) Humans 030212 general & internal medicine General Nursing media_common Religion and Medicine Religious studies General Medicine humanities Prayer 030205 complementary & alternative medicine Clinical trial Research Design Consciousness Psychology Faith Healing |
| Zdroj: | Journal of religion and health. 56(6) |
| ISSN: | 1573-6571 |
| Popis: | Belief in the healing power of prayer is found in various religious traditions. Spiritually grounded clinical interventions, such as intercessory prayer (IP), need to be understood in a broader sense. This essay features the IP trials, observing the controversial relationship between inconsistent results and allegedly inadequate methods and theoretical hypothesis. A survey of the literature was conducted including publications indexed until September 2013, focusing on the trials developed in the field and on the critics about the methodological design. Recent meta-analyses and multicenter studies found inconclusive results in the investigation of IP. Clinical trials on IP present some methodological difficulties: The intervention is not fully controlled; the primary outcome is not properly defined; and the theoretical models seem inconsistent. The "non-local consciousness" model may be appropriate for studies of IP. Directions for future research: greater emphasis on the evaluation of the effectiveness of this intervention in animal models; selection of subjects and healers who have previous connection; considering the hypothesis of non-local consciousness in the study design. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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